Flag of Istalia
The current flag of Istalia, officially Flag of the Istalian Empire, is the national flag of the Country since 4574, following the adoption of the Imperial Constitution of 4571 and one of the National symbols of the country. The flag retains the structure and the colors scheme of the previous republican flag, replacing the republican emblem with the Coat of Arms of the Istalian Empire. =Description of the flag= The flag is a horizontal tricolour of, from above to below, green, white and red. The central white band, larger than the others, is bordered by two thinner blue stripes slightly separated from the green and red bands. All the color bands are divided by thin golden line. In the center of the white band there is the Coat of Arms of the Istalian Empire. These colors are traditionaly associated to Istalia and Istalians deriving from the royal banners of the Kingdom of Istalia. The Colors The colors of the istalian flag, as said, derived from the colors showed on the banners of the kingdom of Istalia, but with the time they were impregnated of symbolism and associated with istalian natioanalist ideals. The green is the color of the shores of the peninsula Sarrentina seen by the Kingdom of Istalia, which at the time controlled only the island of Alaria; it represents the hope the istalians had to retake the lost territories and reunify the fatherland but also the fertility of the lush istalian lands; the white is the color of the purity, indicating how the cause of istalian fighters was noble, righteous and sinless but it is also the local traditional color of the Hosianism, the istalian most diffused religion in contrast with the ahmadi faith of the quanzari invaders and which during the struggles against them was an important unifying and representative element of the Istalian population; the red finally represent the blood shed by istalian people and its martyrs under the foreign oppression and during the fight to drive out the foreign occupant. The blue on the thinner internal bands is another color linked to Istalia, deriving from the most ancient Nacosia House banner, and often used by organizations focused to drive out the Quanzars and to unify the istalian people. The two stripes above and below the emblem indicates that the Republic is born and is supported by the istalian people (lower stripe) but also that it is subjected to the will of the istalian people (upper stripe). The insertion of the golden stripes wants reflect the new imperial status of Istalia. Coat of Arms of the Istalian Empire The Coat of Arms of the Istalian Empire was designed by Michele Appiano De Borromei itself after his acclamation to Emperor of the Istalians. The Coat of Arms was modelled to express the prestige, the greatness and the imperial ambition of the new imperial istalian state. The Coat of Arms uses all the colors associated to Istalia and Istalians, merged in a profusion of gold, associated to the Imperial Dignity. The Arms depicts a ancient selucian shield with a golden eagle regardant with wings inverted resting on thunderbolts in front of a green background. The shield is surrounded by an Imperial red mantle lined with ermines in the natural, filled with golden bees. The shield is topped by a golden eagle Imperial Crown, surrounding the shield is the Order of the Istalian Star. Cross behind the shield are the Scepter of Justice and Mercy. Michele the First once said that he was inspired by the glorious ancient selucian heritage of Istalia and, in fact, from Selucia he adopted the Imperial Eagle on thunderbolts, associated to the supreme imperium of the State and to the king of the gods of the Selucian Religion; the blu of the shield is clearly the Istalian blue. As a monarchical Coast of Arms, Michele the First respected the tradition, using the signs and the symbol of the monarchical power: a national honor, the Order of the Istalian Star, the scepter and the hand of the justice and finally, obviously, the Imperial Crown, designed, declared Michele the First, by his brother Grand Prince Mattia, a crown which uses again the symbolism of the eagle. The bees on the imperial red coat derives from an ancient symbols of the Alarian proto-storical and early storical civilizations, which is attested they practised beekeeping where the ancient kings boasting large and sacral bee farms, as stated by Grand Prince Mattia, which was at the time an artist and docent in an artistic univeristy of an Alarian city. =Other flags used in Istalia= The Imperial Standard In 4574 the National Assembly adopted alongside the new Imperial flag and Coat of Arms, also the official Standard of the Emperor. It consist in a red rectangle bordered by a blu adge, in which is inserted a white rhombus, containing a green rectangle. Within the green retcangle there is a golden imperial eagle with thunderbolds sourmounted by an Imperial crown. Each of the four white triangles contains a golden bee while each red triangle contain an I, for Empire in Istalian, whitin a golden laurel crown. All the coloured sections of the flag are bordered in gold. The Republican Flag This flag became the national flag of the Country in 2233 when was founded the istalian Quanzarian Republic (became officialy Istalian Republic in 2263) and remained the national flag until 4574, when it was replaced by the Imperial flag. The colors are those associated to Istalia and istalians which derived from the flag of the Istalian Kingdom, symbol of the fight and the resistance against the Quanzarian invaders. Since when tricolor flags were used during many uprising against the Quanzars, the flag took a nickname: L'Orgogliosa (The Proud one). Description of the flag The flag is a horizontal tricolour of, from above to below, green, white and red. The central white band, larger than the others, is bordered by two thinner blue stripes slightly separated from the green and red bands. In the center of the white band there is the emblem of the Istalian Republic, flanked on the right and left by two blue triangles while two white triangles insist on the blue stripes above and below the coat. These colors were already used into the flag of the Kingdom of Istalia and were adopted by the istalian republics for their importance for the istalian history and culture. The Emblem The Emblem of the Istalian Republic was introduced togheter with the National flag and was designed to represent the hopes of the nation for the new istalian, republican and democratic regime and the principles which shall steer its actions and policies. It comprises a white five-pointed star, with a thin red border, superimposed upon a five-spoked cogwheel, standing between an olive branch to the dexter side and an oak branch to the sinister side; the branches are in turn bound together by a red ribbon with the inscription REPVBBLICA ISTALIANA in white capital letters. The red-bordered white star is a representation of the Istalian Democracy, because, after the fall of the Emirate, the first republican and democratic regime established in Istalia was the Union of Quanzari Soviets, whose flag had a white star among two olive branchs, symbol of the peace. The five-spoked cogwheel represent the faith in the great spirit of civilization and progress, in opposition to the traditionalist, reactionary and illiberal values of the previous Emirate but in general of all the anti-democratic forces which want undermine the liberty of the people. Finally, both oak and olive trees are characteristic of the Istalian landscape but they also represent, respectively, the strength and dignity of the Italian people and the Istalia's desire for peace, both harmony at home and brotherhood abroad. Elements of the emblem, such as its industrial symbolism and the star, are also clearly influenced by socialist heraldry which had great prominence during the Union of Quanzari Soviets which despite was in effect a quite plural democracy were first of all a socialist republic. Flag of the Istalian Kingdom This was the official flag of the Kingdom of Istalia and was adopted in 1849 by the recently established Parliament of the Kingdom of Istalia which replaced the previous Royal Banner. The traditional blue banner of the reigning Nacosia House was flanked by two vertical red bands representing the people, the veritable life blood of the country. In the middle remained the five-armed cildanian asterix which was the badge of the Saint Matthias Order, the highest dynastic order of the Kings of Istalia. The colors of the Saint Matthias badge inspired the national istalian colors, given the fact that the Order was instituted by Arthur Gabriel I, second King of Istalia, to reward those who have exceptionally contributed to the reunification cause. Last flag of the Emirate The last flag of the Emirate of Quanzar was adopted in 2098 to replace the old flag, used until 1934 as official flag of the Quanzar Empire. It was adopted by the NeoSocialist Government after the democratic transition of the end of XXI century, and was created as a conciliatory flag, unifing symbols of the Emirate and its Dynasty and of the new democratic, peaceful and internationalistic values adopted by the democratic government. The flag abbandoned the classic black banner, too much linked with ahmadi religious values, a sensible issue during the first democratic years of the Emirate, and instead was adopted a pacific white background with the upper and lower borders painted red, described during its presentation as follow: It will have the upper and lower borders painted red, from the blood and the courage of the men who fought anywhere in this world for their rights. It will have three simbols in its center. The Emirate hawk on the upper left, the Peace Olive tree in the upper right and the symbol of the secular power in the lower center. The Simbol of the secular power shall represent the three branches of the state, united by the ring of the will of the people. The symbolism so was very important for this flag as explained: the hawk was the historical dynastic symbol of the Emirate, the Quanzar's Hawk; the Peace Olive tree symbolized the committment of the new democratic regime to promote peaceful international relationships and to promote understanding and harmony inside the nation; the Fleur-De-Lis represented the veritable symbol of the new democratic regime introduced in Quanzar. Flag of the Union of Quanzari Soviets This is the flag adopted in 2114 by the newly established Union of Quanzari Soviets which has been described with these words: The new flag shall be a red field defaced with a white five-pointed star inside a laurel wreath. The red field symbolises the effort of the Quanzari people for progress and recognises the suffering of our past. The star represents the five regions that make up the country. The laurel wreath and the white colour symbolises our commitment to peace and security. Using red and white also acknowledges our previous national flag. Despite there were no mentions to the socialist values, the red field of the flag was clearly used to indicate the adherence of the country to the socialist principles, especially on the economic side, as explained with these words during the debate following the presentation of the flag: The Flag has to represent the future Union of Soviets, yet the name is not related to ideology, communism in Quanzar is helded dearly but so is pluralism, but it's related to our economical system The Hessexian Flag of Quanxar This flag was the vessil of the Order of the Golden Crown and was adopted on August 1st, 2685 when the Royal Union of Quanzar was formally declared by the House of Hessex at the end of the First Istalian Republic. The two heads and crowns of the eagle represent Alaria on the right and the Sarrentina Peninsula on the left, respectively. The larger crown in the middle represents the dominion of the Order of Golden Crown on the refounded Quanzarian lands, and so the Royal Union of Quanzar under the House of Hessex. The emblem in the center of the man slaying a serpent is the family seal of the House of Hessex. The scepter and the orb are two symbols of kingly power, and the golden field represents the opulence of the monarchy. The flag was maintained also when the Kingdom became the Holy Empire of Quanzar, but changed when the monarchy was abolished. This flag was adopted as national flag also under the following restored Quanzarian Kingdoms, respectively from 3077 to 3133, under the Kingdom of Quanzar, and from 3291 to 3364, under the Southern Majatran Union and Kingdom of Quanzar and the Union of Quanzar and Istalia. Transitional Republican Flag of the Holy Empire of Quanzar This flag was the one adopted by the republican transitional government which was installed after the fall of the Hessexian monarchy in the Holy Empire of Quanzar (2738). Due to the fact that this republican regime was still under the leadership of the same solentian-luthorian élite which assumed the power with the Hessexian Dynasty, the previous istalian flag was ignored and instead it was adopted a variation of the flag of the Union of Quanzari Soviets, a blue banner with a white star in the middle, in contrast with the Soviets' red flag. This flag, however, was never intended to be the official one but a provisional one to be changed once the Holy Empire was transformed into a republic. The progressive return at the power of the istalian political forces into the transitional republic, however, blocked any attempt to reform the solentian-luthorian regime which was succeded finally by the Second Istalian Republic. Category:Quanzar Category:Flags Category:Istalia